Smitten

by Brooks, Gemma

  Within minutes of checking in, I was soon whisked off for a consultation with Maggie who decided to paint a few subtle, balayage highlights into my chestnut hair. Once the color had been applied and processed, I had my hair washed and scalp massaged by a young, aspiring stylist. Lastly, I was whisked off to meet with Roxy for a cut and styled out by Roxy’s assistant.

  Never did I ever think a haircut would make such a difference, but the layers Roxy cut into my long hair completely changed the shape of my face and brought out my hazel eyes.

  “Do we need eyebrows today?” Alec said as he perched against the wall behind me. He exchanged looks with Roxy who subtly nodded. “Okay, we’re doing eyebrows.”

  They escorted me to an esthetician who took her sweet time crafting the most perfect arches I’d ever seen in my life.

  “These really accentuate your eyes,” she said. “Your eyes are incredible. Perfect almond shape. Not too wide set, not too close together.”

  I’d never had anyone pick apart my eye shape like that before, but at least she was saying good things.

  “Th-thank you,” I stammered. At least I assumed she was giving me a compliment.

  Alec glanced down at his big-faced watch. “We’ve got to go. We have an appointment at Saks for makeup.”

  “I’m all done here,” the esthetician said as she admired her work. The skin beneath my eyebrows stung a little, but I didn’t care. They looked fabulous.

  We climbed back inside the waiting limo and headed to Saks for our 2pm consultation at a Chanel makeup counter.

  “When Hudson called me earlier and told me he had a friend coming in, I’ll admit I was a little curious,” Shanda, the makeup artist, said. “But he told me about how naturally beautiful you were, and I just love working with natural beauty.”

  Her skin was a flawless shade of cappuccino and she had the longest eyelashes I’d ever seen. Her lips were soft and full and covered in a pale, pink lip gloss. She was nothing short of beautiful herself.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I usually don’t wear a ton of makeup, so I don’t want to get into some crazy routine.”

  “Absolutely,” she said as she held up different foundations to my neck to try to find a match. “We can do a no-makeup look that’s perfect for every day. Then I can find you some great lipsticks and eyeliners so you can easily transition from day to night.”

  “Sounds great,” I said while I stared at my reflection in the mirror on the counter.

  Alec sat in the bar stool behind me, eyes glued to his phone most of the time.

  “I can get a head start on wardrobe shopping,” he offered after a few minutes. He was clearly bored with the makeup gig. “What size are you?”

  Alec himself was not a big guy, and Shanda’s bony wrists told me she probably wasn’t a big fan of food either. She had to have been at least a size zero, maybe even a double zero. She was a good three or four inches taller than me too.

  I blushed, not wanting to reveal my size. Back home, I’d always been proud to be a six. Out here, I felt like that information should’ve been private.

  “Doll, your size?” Alec asked again.

  “I guess it just depends on the brand,” I said. “Sometimes a four. Sometimes a six.”

  I was never a four. Ever. I kicked myself on the inside for lying. He was probably going to run and pull a bunch of size fours and they were all going to be too small and I was going to feel like a complete idiot for lying about it.

  “I prefer to go a size up and get everything tailored,” he said. “I’ll pull some sixes and eights for you.”

  I closed my eyes and thanked my lucky stars. “Thanks, Alec.”

  Shanda finished up with me a little while later. My look was stunning and flawless, and I could hardly see any of the makeup on me. It looked so natural yet so polished.

  “So? What do you think?” she asked with a huge grin on her face.

  “I love it,” I said. I couldn’t stop smiling at my reflection in the handheld mirror in front of me. “You did good!”

  She began lining up a bunch of products on the counter.

  “I’ll take everything,” I said as I handed her Hudson’s card.

  She rang up a bag full of products and I couldn’t bring myself to look at the total. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the day feeling like I owed him something.

  I found Alec in the ready-to-wear section with an armful of garments over his left arm. Evidently he’d been pulling like crazy.

  “Wow,” I said. “You’ve been busy.”

  “Oh, honey, you should see what’s in the dressing room for you,” he laughed. “This is round two.”

  “We’re going to be here a while aren’t we?” I asked.

  “Go get started,” he said. “Last dressing room on the end. That way. I’ll be over in a sec.”

  I found the dressing room and stripped down, pulling on various tops and jeans and pants and dresses. I started with the eights, which were all slightly too big, and told Alec I agreed we should get them and have them tailored.

  Luckily a good portion of sixes fit me well enough to go home with me that day. I wanted to get started with my new look. I didn’t have time to wait for a tailor to take everything in.

  Alec helped me find a California-Coastal-meets-laid-back-Midwestern style, which he insisted I could pull off well. He customized every outfit and told me what went with what. He even offered to come by and take Polaroids of the different outfit combinations so I never had to worry about coming up with something on my own.

  “You’re too amazing,” I said to Alec as I hugged him at the end of the day. “You really made this day so special.”

  “Don’t thank me,” he said as he squeezed me back. “Thank Hudson. He set everything up for you.”

  “He’s pretty great, isn’t he?” I asked Alec.

  “He likes you a lot,” Alec replied.

  We trekked out of Saks and it was already starting to get dark. I was exhausted and I knew Alec was too. I almost wished we had more time together so I could pick his brain about Hudson, but I knew neither of us had the energy. The ride home was pure silence.

  “See you,” I called to a half-asleep Alec as I exited the limo back at Hudson’s.

  “Bye, doll,” he said back. He closed his eyes and reclined back onto the buttery leather seats.

  The driver helped me carry my huge bags of clothes and makeup into the house, where Hudson was vegged out on the sofa watching some sports game on his giant T.V.

  “You’re home,” he said as he popped up. He flipped the light on in the kitchen. “Let me get a good look at you.”

  I smiled sheepishly and prayed that he was okay with my new look.

  “You look stunning,” he said as he drank me in. “You were gorgeous before and now you’re just stunning.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I studied his face for sincerity and found it in his eyes. He meant what he said, and he liked how I looked either way.

  “But more importantly, how do you like it? How do you feel?” he asked.

  “I feel like a new woman,” I said. “I feel like I might not stick out like a sore thumb anymore.”

  He laughed as he put his arm around me.

  “Your feet must be killing you,” he said. “All that time spent shopping today.”

  Now that he’d mentioned it, they were pretty achy. I followed him over to one of the sofas in the family room where he sat me down and pulled my flats off my feet. One by one, he began to rub them.

  “Thanks,” I said to him. “Thanks for everything today. Seriously. You have no idea how much fun I had and how much this all meant to me.”

  He looked pleased. “I just want you to be happy, Brynn.”

  I leaned back onto an oversized throw pillow and shut my eyes as his firm hands worked out every kink and ache in my poor feet. I could’ve passed out right then and there.

  ***

  I stood on the scale that next morning not knowing
what to expect. It had been two weeks since my makeover, thirteen days since I began taking advantage of Hudson’s amazing home gym, and ten days since I’d read about a maple syrup/cayenne pepper/lemonade cleanse that all the celebrities were doing to shed serious weight.

  The numbers of the scale bounced back and forth, high and low, before settling on a number I hadn’t seen in a long time. I was down twelve pounds in two weeks. No wonder my clothes had been hanging off me a bit lately.

  I squealed silently and clapped my hands together as I did a happy dance. Those trolls are never going to call me fat ever again, I told myself.

  I hopped into the shower and lathered up under the hot water. My fingers traced my ribs, and I could even feel a few bulging out. Iowa Brynn wouldn’t have been happy about that, but California Brynn was elated. Almost three weeks in L.A. and I was already evolving into someone I barely recognized, inside and out.

  I emerged from the shower and wiped the steam off the mirror with a towel. My face was looking a little gaunt, but it was nothing that some smart highlighting and contouring couldn’t fix. My eyes looked a little sunken in, but it only made them look even bigger.

  “Good morning,” Hudson said to me as I sauntered out to the breakfast table with a little extra pep in my step. “You going to actually eat something today?”

  I’d been using tons of excuses lately not to eat much around him, but I knew I was running out of them. Sometimes I’d eat a piece of toast at breakfast and then mentally calculate how many minute I needed to log on the treadmill or how many laps I needed to swim in his pool.

  “Sure,” I said as I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. I wondered if Hudson was admiring my new frame or my outfit, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I almost didn’t want to know.

  “Listen,” he said. “I’ve got a press tour coming up this weekend. I have to fly to New York.”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said. “You did mention that the other day.”

  “Then I’ve got one more week here with you before I have to start shooting again,” he said. He still hadn’t brought up the fact that he was shooting a movie with Ava Fox, and I still hadn’t mentioned that I knew anything about it.

  “Do you want to come with me to New York this weekend?” he asked.

  As much as New York sounded amazing, we’d been spending a lot of time together, and I was growing slightly homesick.

  “That sounds great and all,” I replied. “But if it’s okay with you, I think I should go home this weekend. I need to check on my mom. Catch up with Piper. That sort of thing. I’ve never been away this long before.”

  “Brynn, that’s totally fine,” he said, almost insulted by the fact that I would need to ask his permission. “I’ll book your tickets today. Not an issue.”

  My face lit up as relief washed over me.

  “I’m going to hate being away from you though,” he said with a pained look on his face.

  “We’ll talk and text every day,” I promised. “Or iChat or Face Time or whatever. It’s just a couple of days.”

  “I know,” he said as he stood up and walked over to me. “I just hate letting you out of my sight.”

  He pulled me up into a standing position and kissed me deeply. My heart fluttered, and I felt like putty in his arms once again. I didn’t want to leave him either, but I had to check on things back home.

  “You’re not going to see that Luke guy, are you?” he whispered in my ear as his hands caressed my back.

  “No,” I said. I was being truthful. I hadn’t really thought much about Luke the last few weeks. I’d been too distracted by Hudson and all the excitement that was suddenly appearing in my life thanks to him. “I’m offended that you’d even ask me that.”

  I swatted his chest playfully, but deep down I truly was offended.

  “Just checking,” he said as he nibbled my ear. “You’re mine now. Not his. Remember that.”

  Every so often, I’d catch glimpses of Hudson’s possessive streak, and truthfully it turned me on.

  “Has Luke tried to contact you or anything?” he asked.

  Why were we still talking about Luke?

  “Not at all,” I said. “Piper doesn’t even really call me that much. That’s kind of why I think it’s important that I go see her.”

  “If it makes you happy,” he said. “I just want you to be happy. I’m not going to keep you away from your friends and family. I’m not that kind of guy.”

  “I never said you were,” I insisted. “I just need one weekend at home, and then I’ll come straight back here and we can pick up where we left off.”

  “Promise?” he asked as he breathed heavily into my ear and held me close.

  “Promise,” I replied. I felt tiny and powerless, both physically and emotionally, under his tight hold.

  CHAPTER 10

  My kitten heels clicked on the hardwood floors of the coffee shop in Rock River. Up ahead, Piper was leaning against the counter, reading some sort of magazine. She was in her own little world, not even bothering to look up when the bell on the door rang.

  “Excuse me, miss,” I said. An ornery half-smile crept upon my lips. “I’d like to order a coffee.”

  She looked up, and a small part of me hoped she’d run around the counter to me and throw her arms around me. I missed her so much.

  Instead, her eyes looked me up and down, barely recognizing me at first.

  “Oh, my god,” she said. “Brynn.”

  I smiled and placed my hands on my hips.

  “You look so…different,” she said as she stared.

  “New clothes,” I said. “You like them?”

  “No, it’s not that,” she said. “You look so…skeletal.”

  “I’ve just been eating healthier out there,” I lied. “Everything is organic this and free range that.”

  She pursed her lips in disbelief, but I refused to elaborate beyond the explanation I’d already given her.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked her. I hated that she wasn’t excited to see me.

  “Nothing,” she said. “Just wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

  She kept staring at me with a blank expression, and it was starting to bother me more and more.

  “Can I order a drink and stay for a while?” I asked with a smile. I just wanted things to be like old times.

  “The usual?” she asked as she grabbed a clear plastic cup.

  “Actually, just a small iced coffee with skim milk and sugar free vanilla syrup,” I said.

  She stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language for a few seconds before she began preparing my drink. I’d given up the full fat, full whip, sugar-laced drinks weeks ago.

  She sat the drink in front of me with a straw and watched me carefully as I took small sips.

  “Your face,” she said. “It’s so gaunt. It looks so different. You look like a completely different person, Brynn.”

  She shook her head. Piper clearly disapproved of my new look.

  “I’m just getting healthier, Piper,” I retorted. “I’m sorry you don’t like that.”

  She shrugged. “Just concerned. That’s all. Did Hudson want you to lose weight?”

  “No!” I snapped. “He has nothing to do with any of this.”

  “People don’t just drop all that weight like that,” she said. “I don’t think you realize how dramatic of a weight loss you have. You weren’t that big to begin with.”

  I shrugged. “I know one thing, the tabloids have stopped calling me Hudson’s fat ass, corn fed mystery girl.”

  I laughed as I sipped my drink, but Piper apparently didn’t think it was funny.

  “The comments are not nearly as mean,” I said. “Not anymore. That’s for sure.”

  “Your hair. It’s different too,” she said as she reached across and ran her fingers through a few strands. “It’s lighter. Softer.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “If you come out to LA sometime, I’ll take you to Hudson’s people. He hooked me
up.”

  “So Hudson gave you this makeover?” she asked.

  “No, no,” I reiterated. “After the whole tabloid thing a few weeks ago, I told him I didn’t feel like I fit in. He introduced me to his stylist and some hair and makeup people and they gave me a tiny little makeover.”

  “So Hudson did give you this makeover,” she stated again.

  “Whatever, Piper,” I said with a sigh. She was really starting to get on my nerves. I couldn’t fathom why she’d be so offended by my transformation. I was pretty proud of the way I looked personally. “So how’s Luke?”

  “Fine, I guess?” Piper asked. Her words stung. “Why do you care? He finally admitted he liked you and you didn’t even respond.”

  “I care because I care,” I snipped. “I don’t have to have a reason.”

  “He’s doing okay,” she said. “He mostly works in the fields all day and goes to the bars at night.”

  My face cringed. “Sounds pretty pathetic.”

  “He’s still hurting, Brynn,” she said. “What happened last month, I don’t think he ever saw that coming.”

  “Of course not,” I said. “Neither did I. No one could’ve predicted that.”

  “Are you going to leave him alone while you’re here?” she asked.

  I crinkled my nose at her funny question. “Why would you ask that?”

  “It would just really upset him to see you now,” she said as her eyes shifted down. “To see you looking so…different.”

  “I kind of did want to see him while I was here,” I said.

  “But why?” Piper asked. “Haven’t you hurt him enough? Leave the poor guy alone.”

  I wanted to ask her whose side she was on, but I was afraid of her answer.

  “He was my best friend for a long time. I miss him. I still want him in my life,” I said.

  Piper stopped what she was doing and looked up, her big, blue eyes locked with mine and the most serious expression covered her face.

  “Maybe he doesn’t want that,” she said. “Maybe he’s written you off.”